


this world has only one sweet moment set aside for us

by RoguePuppyy



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, M/M, Missing Scene, Not A Fix-It, Past Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Tony's with Pepper but this isn't about them so I'm not tagging their ship, they still love each other tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2020-02-15 17:45:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18674476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoguePuppyy/pseuds/RoguePuppyy
Summary: Spoilers for Avengers: Endgame!The war between them had changed everything. Beforehand they were happy, running Avengers together like the leaders they needed to be, and being the closest couple anyone saw. Their romantic relationship never made the public, of course, but the team knew.And there Tony was now, a wife and child that he loved to space and beyond. And yet, his heart still squirmed, still ached at what could’ve been with Steve. At what they lost.





	this world has only one sweet moment set aside for us

**Author's Note:**

> Blame my girlfriend for commending me to write this. I'm sorry.  
> You can tell me how sad I made you on my [tumblr](https://roguepuppyy.tumblr.com/), yo.

Wiping the sweat off his brow, Tony continued working hard on the time-travel machine. If there was any chance of them bringing everyone back and him still keeping his family, he’s gonna try it. The kid- Peter, he didn’t deserve to be gone from this world at his young age. None of the billions of people that perished after Thanos’ snap deserved it. 

“I think you could use the drink.” A bottle of water was suddenly in front of him and he looked up, rising his goggles to his head. There Steve stood, America’s finest. Tony couldn’t deny the hurt the sight of him caused in his chest, even all these years after their forced break up. 

The war between them had changed everything. Beforehand they were happy, running Avengers together like the leaders they needed to be, and being the closest couple anyone saw. Their romantic relationship never made the public, of course, but the team knew. 

And there Tony was now, a wife and child that he loved to space and beyond. And yet, his heart still squirmed, still ached at what could’ve been with Steve. At what they lost. Maybe they weren’t meant to be. Funny thing is? They haven’t even spoken about the big fucking elephant in the room. Should they even talk about it? 

“Thanks.” Tony took up the bottle and drank, but for some reason Steve didn’t move. Tony wondered why was he still here looking at him with that sad puppy face. “You needed anything else, Cap?”

Steve cleared his throat and glanced at the machine. “It has to work, Tony. So many people have lost everything, we have lost...everything.” His eyes turned to look at the older man once again. 

“That we have.” Tony mumbled and, before he noticed, he did it. He couldn’t hold himself back any longer, because if they didn’t talk about that big bubble between them now, it would never get resolved. And they needed to trust each other now more than ever. “We used to fuck once, remember? Went on dates like couples do and slept in the same bed.”

And just like after Carol found Tony and Nebula - when Tony yelled at Steve about everything - Cap was silent, and his eyes went wide.

“I have a kid now,” Tony continued, “feels like I lost one too, and we need to do this with trust. If we can’t do that then there’s no reason for me to even build this thing because it won’t work.”

The ever so patient Steve waited for him to finish his rant, probably fully aware that was something they needed to talk about. Tony asked himself if he was glad that he didn’t get to say anything about this five years before, and why he didn’t in the first place. Maybe he was too in love with Pepper, or really he was just trying to move on from the trauma of losing Peter and failing to beat Thanos. 

“Tony.” Steve’s voice sounded gentle and yet tired at the same time. It made Tony suddenly wonder how much more a man can take. A man who woke up after seventy years in the ice and got told he’d lost everything he knew. A man who, a few short years after that, lost his close friends once again. Did all of that hurt as much as losing someone you saw as a son? “Tony.” Steve repeated, breaking Tony’s thoughts. “It wasn’t perfect, and you have a baby girl now.”

“That’s not the point, we have a past.” Tony took off his goggles. Out of frustration? Maybe. “And we never talked about it. You left us, you chose-“

“I was forced to.” The blonde cut him off. “Do you think I wanted to do that, go against everything? Sometimes you need to stand for what you believe in, even if it means hiding in the shadows and being called a criminal.” He took a deep breath, fighting with emotions he was not sure he wanted to show. Tony could see it. “And I wasn’t going to lose Bucky again. I thought I had lost everyone when I came back from the ice. Discovering that a piece of my reality was alive, my best friend, of all people... I-“ Steve cleared his throat. “I love- loved you more than anything, but you can’t blame me from wanting to grasp on my past.” 

Tony knew that - awakened in a cold new world - Steve had longed for Peggy, and then by some unexpected miracle he’d found a place in his heart for him too. 

They could go on and on about how much they broke each other’s hearts knowing fully well that they’d forever have feelings for each other no matter what. And after years of dealing with that heartbreak, it now seemed their relationship wasn’t at the top of their to-do list. Actually, Tony was pretty sure it wasn’t even on the list. “Do you miss us?” He had to ask. 

“Yes.” 

Tony couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. He loved Pepper and their daughter, and he wasn’t planning on stopping doing that. But he would be a fool to lie and say that his love for Steve ever went away. “Do you remember that day we went to the top floor of the Tower? It was night time and-“

Steve’s chuckle mirrored Tony’s, as he finished his sentence. “And you insisted I’d come with you because you had something amazing to show me-“

Tony couldn’t help but step towards him. “And it was a fucking jacuzzi, yeah, but that wasn’t the punch line.” Back then, it was the most breathtaking thing Steve had ever seen, according to him anyway. 

“We had champagne as we looked up at the night sky, I do remember. It was a beautiful date.” Steve’s smile was as bright as the first time Tony saw it, true happiness at the rosy memory. 

And just like that, silence fell between them, their eyes lingering for too long, glances at each other’s lips. Tony could swear magic was the force pushing them closer, and closer.

“Tony…” Steve whispered. Both of them fighting it, because it wasn’t a good idea.

“I know, baby.” Slip of the tongue, Tony would swear. “I know, I just-“ What else could they say? When they both knew they were still in love with each other and yet it couldn’t happen. He had moved on, from all Steve was to a happy family, and yet his heart still wanted the man at his side.

As their lips brushed, it seemed like finally some sense sparked in Steve, and he took a step back. “We can’t, Tony.”

The older man nodded. He agreed. It’s a good thing that one of them still had the strength to pull away. “I guess not in this timeline, right?” It was the hardest thing for Tony to say, but it was the truth nonetheless. “We’re not meant to be.”

_______________

“I am Iron man.”

“No! Tony!” Steve screamed as Tony snapped his fingers and the bright light pushed them all back. God, what if the man got hurt? Even someone like Hulk barely survived the snap. 

Once the light cleared up, every enemy and their ship that carried them were turning to ash. Even Thanos sitting down in defeat, eventually vanished as well. But where was Tony? As Steve’s head looked his way, his soul broke into a million pieces. Tony was being sat down by Rhodey, and he looked burned, shook up. 

No, God. Not him. “Medics!” Steve roared. The mission had already taken Natasha, and now he wanted to beg whoever would listen to not take Tony as well, not when they just got everyone back. Steve can’t let it happen. 

“There’s not enough time to save him, Captain.” Doctor Strange shook his head. “His injures are…” his voice sounded just as rough, as he had probably known this was going to happen and there was nothing he could’ve done to stop it. 

“We won, Mr. Stark.” The kid was crying, and Steve couldn’t begin to imagine what was like to lose so many parental figures at such a young age. “We won, Tony.” Peter clearly didn’t want to move, didn’t wanna leave his mentor. And yet Pepper found the strength to help him do so. 

Steve couldn’t breath, Tony wasn’t speaking and seemed in shock, as if his body was desperately trying to hold on for something else. “We’ll be fine, Tony. You can rest now.” She said, smiling in reassurance, giving her husband some peace of mind at last. 

Steve wasn’t so sure he was going to be fine. 

Yet, Tony still turned his head slowly to look at him, one last glance, a silent goodbye that neither of them wanted to have and Steve’s heart couldn’t take. Another one of his loves being taken away from him was too much to bear. As Tony’s eyes closed and Pepper finally cried in agony at the loss of her husband, Steve felt his heart die with Tony. 

Maybe Tony had been right about that, among many other things. They weren’t meant to be.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed and once again, I apologize.  
> Also the title is my girlfriend idea, it's Queen's "Who wants to live forever"


End file.
